Americans burned and mutilated by Iraq mob

The Bush administration last night condemned as "despicable" the killing of four American civilians working in Iraq, whose charred and mutilated bodies were dragged through the streets in front of a cheering crowd.

Fearful that the incident in Falluja would draw comparisons with notorious images from Somalia in 1993, when the bodies of American soldiers were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, the White House vowed that there would be no u-turn in policy.

But there is bound to be alarm within an administration that is anxious to maintain public support for its Iraq strategy as George Bush seeks re-election in November.

Across Iraq it was one of the bloodiest days this year for the occupation. Five US soldiers also died in Habbaniya, 15 miles west of Falluja, when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb. Near the southern city of Basra, three British soldiers were injured when they were caught in an explosion.

In Falluja, pictures of the two burning vehicles in which the four US civilians were travelling when they were attacked, and of the crowds which gathered around them were shown on US television. But the networks shied away from broadcasting gruesome images of the attack, in which the bodies were burned, decapitated and then hanged from bridges.

Early evidence indicated that the four civilian contractors worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, based in Moyock, North Carolina, which was hired by the Pentagon to provide security for convoys that delivered food in the Falluja area. But it was not clear why they had driven into the insurgent stronghold, 35 miles west of Baghdad, without a military escort.

Witnesses said masked men attacked the two cars in which the four were travelling with grenades and heavy gunfire as the vehicles entered the city from a nearby US army base. A mob then descended on the wreckage. One of the bodies was tied to a car with cord and dragged through the streets.

Other bodies were hacked with poles and farm tools. At least two were hanged from a bridge. Television film of the attack showed a large crowd stoning the burnt-out cars and celebrating the killings.

Footage showed an Ameri can passport and a US department of defence identification card lying beside the remains.

Although a US fighter jet swooped over the town after the attack, there was no immediate military response.

"It is despicable the way these individuals have been treated," the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said.

"There are terrorists, there are some remnants of the former regime that are enemies of freedom and democracy, but democracy is taking root and we are making important progress," he said. "We will not turn back from that effort."

In Baghdad, Dan Senor, a spokesman for the US-led coalition provisional authority, said: "These are people we have to capture or kill. Their strategic goal is to turn Iraq back to the era of Saddam Hussein and the torture, the suffering and the despair that went along with it."

"Falluja remains one of those cities in Iraq that just don't get it," said Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the US military in Iraq. "They are desperate to hold out and to turn back the hands of time."

The US marines have just taken control of the Falluja area, the third American military force to attempt to calm the town since the war last year. The marines began their tenure with a series of raids and arrests, in which several civilians were killed, including an Iraqi television cameraman working for a US network. Like previous raids in the past year, the operations only sparked the anger of residents. Residents say the attacks on the US are not inspired by an attempt to reinstall Saddam, but to exact revenge for what is seen as its heavy-handed approach in the town, and the perception that the Sunni Muslims who dominate the town have been excluded from the postwar political process.

Yesterday's incidents reflect a new rise in the level of violence throughout Iraq.

Gen Kimmitt described the attacks as no more than an "uptick in localised engagements". But he admitted that the average number of daily attacks on US and coalition troops has risen to around 28, after a lull of several months.

A total of 12 foreign civilians were killed in March. US officials have said they expect an increase in violence in the run-up to the handover of sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.